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[caren103]

Hi,

Yesterday I received my SD SUPERCARD.

Everything seems to work flawlessly, and I am very happy with it..... unless for a reason.

The only game I had to check it was FIRE EMBLEM I.

The game worked perfect, but.... I have not been able to save my progress.

I patched the game according to this forum tutorials, using the SUPERCARD SOFTWARE V2.30, and the ROMINFO.DAT 24/07/2005.

I've tried the QPC saving method, the 'normal' method ( L1+R1+SELECT+A ), and so on, but the save file that I save to the SD from the Supercard memory, is always the one generated by default for the FIRE EMBLEM rom, and not the one with my progress.

I have noticed that on the SUPERCARD SOFTWARE, in the GAME LIST screen, where "PATCH" appears, it says "FAIL".... so perhaps the problem is that the Supercard Software cannot patch the FIRE EMBLEM game, which would be a shame, as the game works perfectly.

Any ideas to being able to save with Fire Emblem?

[caren103]

I've done some investigation with other games, and it happens the same thing.... It simply doesn't save the game save to the SD card....

I have tried to format it ( FAT ), and even have patched the roms with the Restart option too.... when I press L1+R1+SELECT+B , within the game appears the option to Save the game, I say and highlight YES, but then the message "PLEASE WAIT" appears... and nothing more happens, the "PLEASE WAIT"  message reamins there on screen until I shut down the GBA....

Do you think the problem is the SD card ?

[cory1492]

possibly, the diagnostic test for the SC is to hold the R and L shoulders when you turn the system on, this should tell you if there are any problems with the sram...

[caren103]

Thanks; I've done the test, and it says that SRAM is OK.

One friend of mine has lend me his 1 GB SD ( from Extreme Memory, the same brand as mine ), and the problem remains.

I have too a 8 MB JVC SD card, but until tomorrow I will not have any game to test with it.

Is very strange..... but if it doesn't work, I suppose that is a deffective Supercard, and would change it for another one.

Perhaps is the soft... I downloaded the 2.30 software from here:

http://supercard.blipsqueaks.com/index.php?section=patcher&PHPSESSID=59e1879fc70afa678da72fe3da62bf81

I wonder if it is the CompactFlash version soft, and the problems are due to that..... I have just gone to the supercard.cn page, but the 2.30 soft for the SD card is not available for download..... could please anybody give me a link to the SD version?

[cory1492]

I wonder if it is the CompactFlash version soft, and the problems are due to that..... I have just gone to the supercard.cn page, but the 2.30 soft for the SD card is not available for download..... could please anybody give me a link to the SD version?

Sure it is there - http://www.supercard.cn/eng/download.htm
click on the flag of the closest file (one flag is canadian and the other chinese)

chinese flag link
http://www.supercard.cn/download/setupsdV230en.exe
canada flag link
http://www.hopebuy.ca/download/setupsdV230_en.exe

make sure to update the apps dat too... (put this file in the supercard install dir overwriting the old rominfo.dat)
http://www.supercard.cn/download/rominfo.dat

so far as I know the CF version of the soft will make the roms inoperable on the supercard SD, not just faulty saves - dont have a CF one here though so...

with the few roms I have tried (using  Sandisk, PQI and an unbranded cheapo SD card) everything has been working well so far (fingers crossed mine doesnt eventually turn into a brick).

[caren103]

Hi again ( and many thanks, Cory1492 ),

Thanks to Cory1492, I've been able to get the SD 2.30 version of the software, and now I am able to save within the game by pressing L1+R1+SELECT+A.

This works well, and though to do this I need to patch the games with ENABLE SAVE+SAVER PATCH+ENABLE RESTART, I haven't noticed any slowdown until now.


BUT, I am not able to save using the QPC method, at least with the games I have tried ( Castlevania circle of the moon and Fire emblem: the sacred stones ).

I have tried a lot of options and so on, but the only result that I have obtained, is that the game progress is lost.

And yes, when I quickly turn off and on the GBA, the game is still on the Supercard ram ( thoug if I try to run it from there, the screen comes white and then black and nothing happens... is this normal? ).


Is the QPC method compatible with the SD Supercard version? Or only with the CF Supercard version?

If it is compatible with the SD version.... which version of the software are you using?


P.S.: how could I know the firmware version of my supercard, please?

P.S.2: I have noticed a curious thing.... I am saving my progress of the game CASTLEVANIA CIRCLE OF THE MOON correctly using L1+R1+SELECT+A. But I have checked the .SAV file of the SD, and its modification date and time hasn't changed since first time! How is it possible?

P.S.3: I have tried with another game the QPC method: Broken Sword, which I know uses EPROM saving, and at least to save the language setting, the QPC method seems to work! I'll have to check the game further to see if inside the game the saving is saved with QPC....

[dai_uk]

P.S.2: I have noticed a curious thing.... I am saving my progress of the game CASTLEVANIA CIRCLE OF THE MOON correctly using L1+R1+SELECT+A. But I have checked the .SAV file of the SD, and its modification date and time hasn't changed since first time! How is it possible?
..

I can confirm the CF version doesn't change the date either, I can only assume the supercard implementation of FAT isn't set to do this, not a problem, but it is a pain when you compare save files to find the newest !

[caren103]

Thanks for the confirmation, dai_uk .

So the SC Fat implementation doesn't change the files date.


As I haven't been able until now to obtain the confirmation about the QPC saving method working on a Supercard SD, I have asked about it at the official Rommam forum..... let's see if some light can be throw on this matter.

It is clear that the QPC saving method works on CF version.

My SC SD firmware version is 1.44; when I upgrade it to 1.50 version, I'll check the QPC saving method again.


If in the meanwhile sombebody can tell its experiences with SC SD an QPC.... they would be more than wellcome!

[sneef]

Hey there...

The QPC method works on my supercard SD (most of the time).

Maybe you are not understanding QPC 100%...  from reading your post I gather that after power cycling, you attempt to run the game that is in ram, and got a white screen?

If that is what happened, what you need to do is QPC, and then if the game appears "in card" (in ram), press "right" on your directional pad.  This will lead you to "saver" menu tab.  Then, locate the game's save file.  highlight it, press "A" and confirm.

your save data should be written to the SD card.

Hope this helps.

perhaps i misunderstood your post, and you already know all this.  in that case, just ignore me!  

sometimes QPC doesn't work for me on my DS for some reason, but on my wife's GBA SP it seems to always work.  maybe i'm not able to power cycle quickly enough on my DS.

[caren103]

Hi Sneef,

Many thanks for your answer.

At least, now I know that the QPC saving method is possible on a SC SD.


Let's see how can I explain it clearly... I am playing to a patched game with "Enable save" only, or with "Enable save"+""Saver patch".

I save my progress when the game asks me to do so.

Well, now I want that save to be saved to the SD card.

I QUICKLY ( half a second ? ) turn on and off the power of my silver GBA SP.

The Supercard menu appears.

I can see that the game I was playing is still in the SC ram ( though if I would try to play it from there, a white screen is all I would get ).

I press right on the directional pad, and I go to "SAVES" on the SC menu.

I navigate through the directories until I locate the save (.SAV) for the game I was playing above.

I highlight it, I press "A" and confirm to Save to the SD.


BUT the game save is not saved to the SD; it is lost ( and if the save in the SD had any progress, it is lost too ): when I start the game again, the save file seems to start from Zero.

Any idea or suggestion, please?

By the way, could you tell me a game you now sure the QPC method works perfectly?

Thanks !!!

[caren103]

I reply to myself.

This morning, I have upgraded my SC SD firmware from version 1.44 to new version 1.50.

And now the QPC works flawlessly !!!

So perhaps was a firmware glitch... I don't know, but now... it works !

But sadly, it only works for a few games ( Super Mario Advance 2 and 3, Golden Sun, Megaman Zero.... ).